What is a Host?
A host is a registered target system that agents can operate on. Hosts provide network addressing through IP addresses, connection methods via SSH or WinRM protocols, organizational context for grouping and management, and discovery metadata for filtering and targeting.Host Configuration

Network Addressing
Each host requires at least one IP address: Public IP: The externally accessible IP address. Used when connecting from the agent swarm to cloud instances, accessing systems across different networks, or operating on internet-facing infrastructure. Private IP: The internal network IP address. Used when operating within the same network or VPC, accessing systems behind firewalls or NAT, or connecting through VPN or private network tunnels. At least one IP address is mandatory. Providing both creates a fallback strategy if one isn’t valid when an agent attempts to execute a task.Connection Protocols
SSH (Linux/Unix): Standard protocol for Linux, Unix, and macOS systems. Requires SSH credentials (username + password or key-based authentication), uses default port 22, and is used for most infrastructure operations. WinRM (Windows): Windows Remote Management protocol for Windows systems. Requires Windows credentials, supports both HTTP and HTTPS connections, and enables PowerShell remote execution. When using local CLI execution mode, no remote protocol is needed—the agent operates directly on the machine where the CLI is installed.Naming and Identification
Host Name: The primary identifier for the host, typically matching the machine’s hostname or a descriptive name. Examples:prod-web-01
, staging-db-primary
, dev-workstation
Additional Names (Tags): Optional supplementary identifiers for flexible filtering and grouping. Tag hosts by role (e.g., webserver
, database
), environment (e.g., production
, staging
), function (e.g., api-backend
, worker-node
), or region (e.g., us-east
, tokyo-dc
).
Multiple additional names enable multi-dimensional organization and easy host discovery when assigning tasks to agents.
Host Management
Creating and Editing Hosts
Accounts UI:- Go to Accounts → Hosts Card (left)
- Click + Create Host (or right-click to edit existing hosts)
- Configure host name, public and/or private IP, connection protocol, and additional names/tags

Subnet Grouping
The Accounts interface organizes hosts by subnet for better visibility and management. Hosts are automatically grouped using the first three octets of their IP addresses (e.g.,192.168.1.x
).
This enables quick identification of hosts within the same network segment, visual topology understanding, easier management of network-scoped operations, and identification of network configuration issues.